Sunday, November 4, 2012

Footprints

I was walking on the beach just now with my pooch, one of my very favorite activities; took some photos of the various footprints on the beach sand:
 

Horse over dune buggy, deer over jogger, jogger in running shoes next to barefoot beach walker.....

I looked to see what kind of footprints I was leaving, and found.....nothing......
There was sand on my shoes and I KNEW I was there, but I was leaving no trace.   When camping in the wilderness, "leave no trace" is the mantra we all try to follow, but in our lives, don't we all want to leave SOME evidence of our existence? Retirement offers us the opportunity to review the trace we've left, and correct it if possible. Have I shared family history with next generations? Yes - good.  No - now is the time to do it.  Will anyone remember what was important to me, what I stood for when I am no longer here?  Yes - good.  No - TELL someone, SHOW someone.   How wonderful to have the time to reflect on these things and have the gift of - if not the "do-over" - at least the "do-NOW".
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2 comments:

  1. OscarNovember 5, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    Very interesting reflections. I think out of everything we can do in life, we should focus on what our legacy will be. If we just took our shoes off more often then maybe our prints would be stronger!

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  2. Liga GreenfieldNovember 5, 2012 at 6:30 PM

    I struggle with this concept, actually. What about ME - as opposed to others - deserves a recognized legacy? And yet, I WANT to be remembered, I want to think that my life, the lives of my ancestors MATTERED, and are remembered. Interesting idea Oscar, that we unintentionally block our 'footprints' and could do more to make them noticed if we shared more freely, with fewer filters between us and our legacy. In creating and maintaining this blog, I've "taken off my shoes" as you suggest Oscar, and hopefully will leave a deeper footprint.

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